The Pain of Hiding
by jayhogartismyangel
Summary: Darcy finds out about her parents' marriage troubles and what her sister has had to go through. TwoShot
1. Part One

**The Pain of Hiding**

**Summary: Darcy finds out about her parents' marriage troubles and what her sister has had to go through. TwoShot.**

Darcy Edwards stared across the room, in disbelief at her sister's sobbing form. She didn't understand it. How could she not have known?

Darcy had come back from Kenya, eager to be reunited with her family. Everything had went well. They'd had a family dinner, the Edwards sister's had cried buckets of tears when they finally saw eachother again, Clare had introduced Darcy to her boyfriend, Eli and friend, Adam. The sisters had then went to the room that they used to share before she'd left and had laughed and talked for hours, before turning off the lights and trying to head off into dreamland. Around one in the morning, Darcy had been shocked to be awakened by the sound of something being shattered against a wall downstairs and then the loud voices of their parents yelling at eachother. The crude words that escaped from their mouths, the accusations, the insults-it wasn't what she'd been expecting. Her parents hadn't been like that when she'd left and none of the letters that Clare or their parents had sent had mentioned anything to make her suspect that her parents marriage was falling apart. She wonders how long her sister has had to deal with this. How long has she had to keep the secret that their perfect Christian parents weren't all that they said that they were? It made Darcy feel awful that she wasn't there to help her sister. Clare was too young to go through this alone.

She watches as Clare reaches for something on her nightstand and pick it up, clutching whatever it was close to her chest before putting on her head with clumsy hands. Clare's breath was ragged and the choked sound of sobs kept on escaping her lips.

Darcy knew that her sister thought that she was sleeping. She wouldn't be outwardly crying, otherwise. Clare had been like that ever since she was a little girl. Bottling up her own pain and helping others. Chewing on her lower lip, Darcy got out of her bed, walking slowly over to her sister's and sitting on the edge of it. A frown thinned her lips as she looked at her sister's shuddering form. Resting a soft, gentle hand on her sister's forearm, and squeezing gently to get her attention when she noticed the expensive looking earphones over her sister's ears.

Clare flinched slightly and then turned her head to look at Darcy, eyes red and swollen and her pale face streaked with tears. She quickly hoisted herself into a sitting position on the bed and took off the earphones. "Darcy!" She exclaimed in shock, swallowing hard. "How-how long have you been awake?" Her hands threaded nervously in the blanket that covered her and she looked away from her sister.

"Long enough." The older sister said simply, sighing and sliding a slender arm across her sister's shoulders comfortingly. "How long have they been fighting like this Clare? This obviously isn't the first time."

The other girl sighed sadly. "For a few months now. Pretty much since the beginning of the school year, maybe a little longer." She mumbled carefully into her sister's shoulder.

"And you never thought to tell me?" Darcy hissed incrediculously, looking down at her.

Clare laughed slightly. "You didn't need to know. You were busy helping kids in Africa. That seemed more important."

Darcy scoffed. "It is when you have to deal with it alone! Clare, I would've been here for you if I'd known."

Clare flushed and brushed a hand through her short curls shyly. "I haven't been handling it alone. Eli's been helping me. It's where the headphones came from."

Darcy was about to reply when more shouting travelled upstairs. The two sisters winced in unison at the sound.

"Well you still should've told me." The brunette said firmly as the house finally grew quiet.

Clare shook her head, blue eyes locking on the door. "Mom and dad told me not to. They said that there was no use to worry you." She pulled away from her sister and laid back down in her bed, not wanting to talk anymore about the situation.

Darcy didn't say anything. She knew that she needed to talk to her parents. Get it through to them that their fighting was hurting Clare. And she needed to thank Eli, for doing what he could to comfort her sister.

**To be continued...**

**Next Part: Darcy confronts her parents and talks to Eli.**


	2. Part Two

**The Pain of Hiding**

**Part Two:**

Darcy woke up before Clare did the next morning which was a bit of a shock. The last time that she'd been home, Clare had always awakened before her. That's when Darcy remembered what had occured last night. Sighing, she got out of bed and walked into the bathroom, staring at her reflection in the mirror as her fingers clutched at the edge of the counter. She needed to talk to them. Needed to make them realise what they were doing to her sister. Steeling herself, she took in a deep, calming breath. Her eyes fluttered shut for a moment before they slowly opened and she let go of the counter, walking slowly out of the bathroom.

She tiptoed out of the bedroom, determined note to wake up her sister. Moments later, she arrived in the kitchen and saw her mother sitting at the kitchen table with her hands wrapped around a coffee cup. She looked rough, like she hadn't slept at all. There were dark circles under her eyes and her hair was a mess. Darcy bit her lip hard and took a seat.

Helen looked up from her cup of coffee and tried to smile at her oldest daughter. "What are you doing up so early, honey?" She asked softly, sounding surprised.

Darcy swallowed hard and said, "How come you never told me that you and dad were fighting?" She inquired, instead of answering.

Shock overtook her mother's face at those words. "Darcy..." She began only to be cut off.

"Don't try to deny it, mom! Clare and I heard you and I asked Clare and she said that it's been happening for months now." Darcy almost yelled, eyes on fire and face twisted into a grimace of anger. She shut her eyes and took in some calming breaths before opening them again and locking them on her mother. "I know that you're trying to protect me, but you don't need to. I'm not crazy mom! I know that you're afraid of me going back to the way I was after I was raped-but that's not going to happen. I've gotten help to deal with it and I think that I deserve to know what's going on with my family. Especially since my baby sister has had to deal with it all on her own. Thank God for that boyfriend of her's. He listens to her. He even gave her headphones to shut out the yelling between you and dad but ignoring it doesn't take away the problem and Clare is smart mom. She's so smart. And she knows that something is wrong, so why don't you and dad figure things out? This isn't a healthy enviroment for her to be around."

Helen sighs tiredly and runs a hand through her messy hair as her weary eyes rest on her daughter's. "It isn't that simple, Darcy. Your father and I-there's alot going on between us that's wrong. It's hard to explain."

Darcy swallows hard. "Are you going to get a divorce?" She asks.

"I honestly don't know, honey." Her mother replied honestly.

Darcy frowned softly as she eyed the house with the hearse parked in the driveway. She wondered briefly if this was a good idea. She didn't really know Eli, having only met him yesterday, and yet she knew that he cared about her baby sister. She couldn't help but want to thank him for how he'd tried to help Clare deal with the drama between their parents.

She raised her eyebrow when the door suddenly opened and the boy in question stepped outside.

Eli's brows furrowed as he looked at her in shock. "Darcy? What are you doing here?" He asked, wondering why his girlfriend's sister would be coming to see him.

Darcy leaned against her mother's car, liking eyes with Eli, brown on green. "I wanted to thank you for how much you've been helping my sister. She really needed someone and you were there for her whenever our parents fought. And it was a nice gesture for you to give her your headphones, so she could drown out the yelling."

He shrugged in embarrassement, staring at his feet. "She didn't deserve to go through all of that alone. I really care about her."

Darcy smiled sadly. "I wish I could've been there for her. I obviously haven't been a very good sister to not be there when she needed me the most."

Eli shook his head in disagreement. "I don't think Clare would agree with you on that. Whenever she talked about you-especially the days before you came home, she'd tell me and Adam how much good you were doing in Kenya. How you were helping all these little kids that needed someone like you. She's really proud of you." He replied.

She grinned at him, pushing her light brown hair away from her face as she stared down at her watch. "I should probably be getting back. My sister will probably be up soon, if she isn't already and our mother is planning on making mine and Clare's favorite breakfast. You should come. I think that she would be happy to see you." She offered as she opened the car door and slid into the driver's seat.

Eli gave her a smirk and raised his eyebrow before he slowly shook his head. "I'll have to take a raincheck on that. I'm supposed to hang out with Adam this morning and then get ready for my date with Clare tonight."

Darcy smiled at him one final time before waving and driving off without another word. Her eyes lit up as they landed on The Dot and she parked infront of the restaurant. She'd done everything that she needed to do for her sister today. Now it was time to do something for herself.

**THE END**


End file.
